


He's charming, is the thing

by a_big_apple



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Music, Pre-Slash, Two kinda sad guys bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22276198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_big_apple/pseuds/a_big_apple
Summary: Time doesn’t matter much on the moon, especially when your whole job is to write music that’s going to be eaten by a giant magical fish and erased from the world. Still, Johann knows it’s late; there’s a certain stillness, a feeling like most people are asleep and he should be too.
Relationships: Magnus Burnsides & Johann
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22
Collections: The Candlenights Zone (2019 Exchange)





	He's charming, is the thing

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the TAZ Candlenights Exchange 2019!

Time doesn’t matter much on the moon, especially when your whole job is to write music that’s going to be eaten by a giant magical fish and erased from the world. Still, Johann knows it’s late; there’s a certain stillness, a feeling like most people are asleep and he should be too. He locked the door for the night hours ago, but he didn’t actually leave—just turned the lights off and sat at his desk, scribbling chord progressions by the Voidfish’s glow. It’s been weeks since the near-disaster at Lucas’ lab, but the Director still hasn’t made any announcement about Boyland’s Rite of Remembrance. She’s putting it off, he thinks; it’s been a while since they lost someone who didn’t go rogue first.

Just as well. He’s been writing and rewriting a tribute song since the news first came through, and he’s gotten nowhere with it. Boyland was a good guy, the kind who made Johann feel a little less sad just by being around. He had a calming vibe that’s almost impossible to put into music. Impossible when you’re Johann, anyway. How is he going to do that feeling justice? Johann’s never been calm a day in his life.

He scribbles on the staff paper again and then tucks his violin back under his chin, playing a speculative phrase and rejecting it just as quickly. _Too high_ , he thinks to himself, _too pretty. Just doesn’t feel right. Something lower?_ He heaves himself to his feet and goes to the instrument closet, tucked into the wall next to his desk. There are two more violins and a viola hanging inside, with bows beside them; he replaces the violin in his hand on the empty hook. Instead he turns to the stand in the corner, and the cello propped up in it. He hums the tricky phrase to himself, reaches out to run his thumb across the strings; it’s just slightly out of tune, but the tone of it tugs at him.

Then, as he’s closing up the closet again with the cello in his hand and bow under his arm, the door to the room jiggles. The _locked_ door, that only he and the Director have keys to. He goes still, half-hidden behind the edge of his desk, and watches as the handle turns a little this way, then a little that. Then, with a click, the door swings open and a hulking figure slips inside.

For a moment it’s terrifying—who would be breaking into the Voidfish’s chamber in the middle of the night?—but then the figure pumps his fist in the air with a whispered “take THAT, Carey!” 

_Magnus. Still weird, but just Magnus_. 

He’s a bear of a man in the pale glow of the Voidfish, highlighted in purples and blues and staring up at the tank with a wide smile. “Hey buddy,” he says softly, and crosses the distance to place his hand on the tank. The Voidfish wriggles, and puts a tentacle tip up on the other side, and it’s still _baffling_. Johann has been taking care of this creature for _years_. But Magnus seems to have that effect on people. It’s infuriating, but also it’s...well, it’s something. Not a calm feeling, like Boyland had, but a _something_.

“Did you break in here just to commune with the fish or something?” he asks, and Magnus jumps with a shrill little shout. If Johann were a different kind of person, he might laugh. 

“Holy shit!” Magnus pants, putting a hand to his chest. “Johann! It’s like, three in the morning, what are you still doing here?”

Johann hefts the cello and gestures from it to the tank. “Uh, I work here. Also I have a _key_.”

“Right. I mean...right. Look, Carey gave me these cool thieves’ tools that used to be hers, and she’s teaching me how to use them, and then she bet me I couldn’t pick the lock on this door,” Magnus tells him all in a rush. It doesn’t sound like a lie; Magnus getting rogue training has definitely been through moonbase grapevine. “And—hey, I thought you played the violin?”

“I’m the best violinist in the world, man. You think I can’t handle another string instrument?”

“No, no! I’m sure you can handle all kinds of instruments!” Magnus protests, holding out his hands, and then after a beat he coughs, flushing. “That sounded dirty, but you know what I mean.”

_Charming_ , Johann thinks. _That’s the something. He’s charming_. But there’s no reality in which he’s going to say that, so he just goes back to his desk and sits with the cello between his knees. “I was just...trying to get something down for Boyland. For the Rites.”

“Oh. Can I...hear what you’ve got?”

“It’s a mess,” Johann sighs, but glances over at his notes and then lifts his bow. Magnus watches in silence as he carefully tunes each string, then slides into the melody he’s been toying with. It does sound better on the cello, a depth to the sound that feels like Boyland’s rumbling voice. He muddles through to something like an end, closer but still dissatisfied, but when he looks up Magnus’ eyes are streaming tears. He’s got a hand up on the tank again, and the Voidfish is matching him; even though it doesn’t have eyes, for once Johann feels like its attention is on him.

“That was amazing! That’s really for Boyland? He struck me as kinda a dick.”

Johann ducks his head, not sure if he wants to laugh or cry. “He was a good guy. Kinda like you. Except not when you break into locked rooms and insult people.”

“Oh. Hey, uh, sorry about that. But really, that was beautiful. I’m sure...you’ll do him justice.” He hears Magnus shift, move closer, and then a hand falls lightly on his shoulder. “It’s hard to lose someone. A little better if you can remember them right. Get some closure.”

“After the Rites, we’ll be the only ones who remember him at all.”

Magnus’ hand squeezes. “Then it’s even better you’re writing a song for him.” A beat of quiet follows, just Magnus’ hand warm on his shoulder, and the weight of the music in his chest; then Magnus plants himself on the floor, looking up into Johann’s face. “Play it some more?” he asks, face still streaked with tears.

Johann does.


End file.
